A Freak is Not A Bad Thing
by Bluddy Begh Hid
Summary: Miss Fleck's story, how she became a freak to how she joined Phantasma. Fleck/Erik! DONE!
1. Abused in the Alley

**Chapter one**

Raven stumbled as she ran faster and faster. They were catching up…slowly, but they were. The sixteen-year-old felt a cold hand on her shoulder and she was shoved to the ground. One by one many boys surrounded her, anywhere from the age of twelve to the age of twenty-five. They grabbed her wing and she heard a snap, then howled out in pain as it hung limply from her back, she tried to flap it, but only hurt herself worse. One began to yank feathers from them and she started to cry, it felt like pulling neck hairs one at a time. They stomped on her, swung mallets at her, and punched her wherever they could. After several long minutes, they left. Her right leg was sprawled awkwardly to the side, the bones felt as if they had been crushed to bits, she knew a rib or two was broken, but that was hardly noticeable with her leg and wing.

"Why do I have to be different…?" She shuddered and tried to push herself up with her arms, but it was useless, she was too weak. A dark cloud soon began to cover over the alleys of New York City, and a drop of rain splashed onto her pale forehead. She folded in her healthy wing to keep it as dry as possible and closed her eyes crying.

"Miss…?" Raven's head popped up and she saw a man standing there looking at her. "Miss, are you alright?"

"They beat me…they beat me…" She coughed and cried harder. The man knelt down beside her and stroked her ink-black locks.

"Are you a human freak?" She normally cowered at the word, but he seemed friendly enough so she acknowledged him.

"I…I am part bird. I fly." She looked up helplessly and he gently turned her body around and picked her up.

"Don't worry, I will help you the best I can. We can talk more once we get to my place." Raven nodded and soon fell asleep, fast asleep.


	2. Dwarves and Clowns and strongmen, Oh my!

Raven awoke and yawned. Her wing was wrapped up and her leg in a cast, her torso was bound and a rag on her face to seep up the blood from the cut. The held the blanket close to her and fully opened her eyes. _Why am I seeing bars…?_ Rubbing her eyes she sat up and shook her head as it bumped something. She looked up and gasped. _I…I'm in a cage! _She screamed and shook it wildly her long, talon-like claws gripping the iron.

"No matter how hard you try, they don't break. You should give up." Raven's head popped up and she swung it around to the spot where she'd heard the voice.

"Who, who's there? Answer me!"

"Name's Gangle. This one over here with his feet chained to the wall is Squelch, and the one in that cage is Frieda. Nice to meet you. What's yours?"

"Raven Fleck… What am I , well, what are we doing here?"

"He collects freaks. Chains them or cages them and has them perform for money. I am more of a clown then anything else, but I can do magic."

"He says he can do magic, but he's never unlocked a single one of these cages." A voice boomed and then laughed a little. Raven looked over to see a tattooed strongman with his ankles chained thrice to the wall.

"Yes…and you are strong enough to pick up a car, but have you ever broken these chains, you are the one to be talking!" A small woman piped up. Small enough to stand in the cage. Raven would assume her to be about three feet tall. "So, Miss Fleck, what are you doing here?" They obviously hadn't noticed her wings or her claws. Which was all too fine for Raven, but she decided to tell them anyways.

"I am a bird. Part bird, and aerialist." She grabbed onto the cage again.

"So…you can fly? Do you have wings? We were asleep when you were brought in." Gangle remarked in awe and Squelch stood up a little straighter. Raven nodded and removed the blanket and showed them her glossy wings. She pulled the one forward that was not broken, and preened it with her nails.

"Yes, I have wings. One is broken though. So at the moment, I can not fly. My leg is broken, my ribs…"

"Were you born with wings? And the claws?" Frieda piped up and looked at her, her jaw dropped.

"_Talons…"_ Raven quickly corrected her. "They are talons, I am not a cat. I am a bird. And no I wasn't… I—I was…an experiment."

They trio gasped.

"To hell with my problems!" Gangle quacked like a duck. "Your life is exceedingly worse. Will you tell us?" Raven looked up sadly and continued to preen. Then nodded slowly.

"I will…but, it is a long story."

"What else have we to do?" Squelch asked. Raven nodded and began.


	3. Neglect of a Child

"My father was a good man until I was born." Began Fleck. "He cared for his wife and eight year old son. He worked hard, and earned what he made. And he was exceedingly happy when his wife turned up pregnant again."

"That was you!" Gangle said promptly.

"Shut up, I'm telling the story." Raven hissed back. "But yes, that was me. My mother had a rough pregnancy, and a very hard birth. A few hours later she died holding me." They all gasped and Gangle already looked like he was about to cry. "Father hated me from that day on, he abused, neglected, and starved me. He would lock me outside in the dead of winter with two feet of snow on the ground with out a jacket. But as I got older I could escape from him more easily, crawling on to the roof or finding a particularly good place to hide. My brother, Jeremy, did love me though, and he is the one who kept me alive.

"One day, father caught him giving me food under the table like a dog. He picked me up by my hair and dragged me into the basement. There was mechanics… all sorts of machines and potions down there. He put me in a glass box with three tiny holes on the top. They were large enough to stick your pinky through. And slammed the door."

"You poor thing" Frieda sighed and looked at her through the bars. "What happened next?"

"Well, he came in a while later, I was so hungry I had fainted twice, so I assume over a week later. He looked at me and said: "Raven. I hate you, you animal. So, I am going to put you in your place. You act like an animal, so you shall be one, you monster." I had no clue what was going on. I was ten at the time. But I started feeling electric pulses going through my body and I went black."

"When you woke up…?" Squelch asked.

"When I woke up I was a human prodigy… A freak of nature. I had wings and talons, and I could fly. Father sold me to some family out of anger, as I later learned, he had tried to make me part rat, so that I could just eat the garbage. The woman grew to love me for what was on the inside, not the outside. The man, well he decided I was his daughter the moment he looked at me. They took real good care of me, but they had five sons who thought I was a fly, a pesky fly that needed to be destroyed. The bruised and bedraggled me all the time, but I never informed anyone. I kept it to myself… But yesterday…" At this Raven herself started to cry. "Yesterday, they got a group of boys and young men and chased me around the city and beat me with rocks and hammers, and boots and their fists…"

Frieda looked at her and sighed. "I'm glad to inform you that we are well taken care of here, even if the living conditions aren't up to par." Gangle was crying too hard for Raven's comfort and Squelch had a forlorn expression on her face. "But… if you misbehave…" Frieda continued, "The master, whose name is Frederick by the way, will hurt you. Possibly kill you. Be aware." Ravens eyes got wide and she looked over to Squelch who silently agreed by drawing his finger across his neck.


	4. You Can Fly!

A middle-aged man walked into the room and unlocked Raven's cage.

"Come on! Get out!" his gnarly voice scared her and she dashed out and into a corner.

"Be nice Mr. Freps…she's just a child." Frieda looked at him sternly. He nodded and held out his hand to Raven.

"Sorry miss, I don't mean to frighten you." She took it reluctantly and he helped her stand. She managed for a minute before her leg gave way and she fell back to the floor. "Darn beast!" he yelled and Raven crawled back into the cage.

"Did I just hear someone yelling at my bird?" A nice-looking man stood in the doorway then walked over to Mr. Freps and back handed him across the face, causing his nose to bleed. "Come here Miss Fleck." She crawled out to him and he cut two slits in the back of her shirt and gently pulled her wings through. "Lets see if this one is better now."

"It still feels weak…" she commented and he began to unbind it.

Yes…maybe so, but the bone is healed. Lets take you and the others outside, and I want to see you try to fly. Sound good?" Raven nodded but inside she was shaking. She didn't trust her wing yet to carry her weight. But, nevertheless, it would be good to be outside again. So up she went, and she was carried outside. Frieda, Gangle, and Squelch looked at her hopefully and she began to flap her wings.

"I…I did it! She called down to them and then swooped over their heads. She was as agile as a hummingbird, flying zig-zag, and circles, and backwards and up. Higher and higher. She felt the injured one start to become weak so she landed back down and sat in the grass, stroking it with a smile.

"She's fit to perform, we will introduce her tonight."

"But—but sir! She's far too weak!" Gangle protested and stepped forward.

"She. Will. Perform." He growled, the three freaks nodded in agreement with him. They chorused the words 'Yes Sir' and helped Raven to a tent around back.

"Just do your best Miss Fleck. I don't think he's expecting much yet." Squelch patted her back."Fly until you can't or until he tells you to stop…"


	5. Revealed and Rescued

Raven performed for three years at this tiny sideshow, and the audience never died or diminished till one frightful day. The new stunt had been practiced day in and day out by Raven and Frieda. A trapeze stunt in which the two flew around and Raven caught her at the end. That day, something went dreadfully wrong.

"Almost done!" Frieda called happily over to her companion. "Just do as rehearsed!" Fleck batted her wings and turned upside-down on the bar and began to swing. She held out her arms and Frieda made the astonishing jump into them, hand into hand. She looked up and smiled, that's when they heard it. A pop. Raven looked up and the ropes holding them thirty feet above the ground snapped and they began to plummet to the hard earth. Fleck flapped her wings but there was not enough time they crashed to the ground, Fleck on top of Frieda. The moment they hit it was the next two cracks. Frieda's neck and Raven's leg.

"God no…" Gangle whispered and ran over to the two women. Raven sat up and put her hand on her head for a second and then whipped around.

"F-Frieda…?" she began to cry and Frederick walked over with a branch and beat her in front or the crowd, adults and children. Squelch reached over and grabbed the branch holding him off.

"GO!" He yelled to Gangle and Fleck. Gangle burst off in speed and Fleck picked up Frieda's tiny body and lifted herself into the air quickly and flew in the same direction. She turned her head over her shoulder to see Squelch not far behind. The three collapsed in a heap on a lonely boardwalk.

"I- I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Raven cried and held onto her friends limp body. They all looked up as they heard footsteps. A man in a mask walked slowly over to them and sighed.

"I'm different too." He said nothing else but beckoned for them to follow. Raven rose into the air right above the others heads.

"What is your name sir?" She questioned the strange man.

"Erik. My name is Erik, though in public I wished to be addressed as Mister Y. Clear?" The three only nodded and continued following. "What is wrong with your leg girl?"

"It's broken sir. It hurts very bad, as this is the second time it's been broken."

"I will make you nice brace, by the looks of it, it never fully healed the first time. Am I correct? Do you still limp?"

"Yes sir…"

"Alright then." Erik looked over at the other two. "Are you a natural hunch-back?" He asked Squelch.

"Yessir."

"I figured. I will make you a brace as well. You, why do you have the bandanna over your face?"

Gangle looked up and sighed. "I am missing an eye sir."

Erik just nodded. "An eyepatch for you. And a bed for all three of you."

"A bed?" they all gasped. Erik looked at them gruffly. "We… we've always been stuck in cages." Raven explained. Erik's eyes widened.

"Cages! For people. I know how you feel, I was in a cage for six years."

"Why sir?" Gangle seemed uneasy but Erik put him to rest.

"I am disfigured, from birth. That is why I wear this mask." No more was said the entire way there.


	6. Fixed Up

Fleck looked down at the strange metal cage around her leg.

"Will it work?" she asked hopefully and bent her knee.

"Why don't you try it?" She nodded and stood up. _So far, so good._ She whispered to herself. One step, then another. She was walking! She began to run, and dance, and even skip and jump.

"It works! It really, really works! I can walk again!" She hugged Erik and thanked him profusely catching him off guard. She then continued to frolic about the room.

"Next." Erik's deep voice rang, though he had said it softly. Gangle stepped forward and removed the bandanna, this action revealed an empty hole in his face. Erik simply smiled and handed him a black and red eye patch. He put it on with a smile.

"Thank you. Very much." Next Squelch stepped forward. Erik removed his jacket and tossed it to the side and grabbed a huge iron cage. It slipped over his head and locked into place with a little muscle and he stood up straighter.

"It will get better, it has different notches. Just remove it at night. Same to you Miss Fleck." Raven didn't hear him; she was too busy being the child she never was, climbing on chairs and bookcases, bouncing on her bed. It was all too adorable, but Erik would have none of it. "**Miss Fleck!**" She landed on the floor with a pouty look. "As I was saying…Remove this at night. Okay"

"Okay." She ran up to her friends and then out the door.

"Fleck? Fleck!" Erik called after her and skedaddled the same way trying to catch up. There were lots of people, all staring at her, the winged human. Soon, she wasn't running for fun, she was running to be free. The children pulled feathers as she want by and giggled and showed their reprimanding parents if they got one. Erik caught her and held her close shooing away the people. He dragged the crying girl back inside and plopped her down.

"Did they hurt you?" He looked exasperated. She looked up and her wings covered her face. "Look at me. Now. I'm not mad at you, I'm just worried. Did thay hurt you?"

"Just a few feathers." She uncovered her face.

"I've got something for you. A costume. Follow me." She did as she was told and he handed her a large box. Inside was a sparkly black blazer jacket with white lace, a small clip-on top hat with feathers, and a skirt. Well, really half of a skirt. It completely showed off one leg, so there were black tights as well. But what really got to Raven was the fact that the skirt was made of black feathers, glossy jet-black feathers. She smiled at him and ran into the closet and put it all on, the brace atop the tights. She brushed her short hair back and came out with a smile.

"What did you do with your wings?" Gangle asked.

"I folded them." A smile crept upon her face. "I can do that to hide them under clothing." Her big black eyes looked upon her 'master'. "Thanks… It's almost too much."

Erik's eyes softened upon her and he gently touched her cheek. "Never."


	7. Songbird Armandia

"Do you sing?" Erik looked at Raven and she nodded a little. He studied her face and sat back. "Why don't you then?" She gulped.

"Right now...? Sing?" She turned pink.

"Yes, sing right now." He crossed his arms and watched her. "Come on! Get on with it, you say you can sing, so do so!"

"Sing what?" she asked nervously. He shrugged and sighed.

_"Coney Isle...glistening and glimmering. Rising bright, drenched with light. See it _

_ smile... Beckoning and shimmering. All agleam... like a dream. Every fantasy set _

_ free, saw it rising by the sea..."_

She put her hand on her throat amazed. "I- I've never sang like that, I didn't even know I could! It's like your presance opened my throat to new horizons...!" She gasped amazed and smiled. "Did I sound as good as I thought I did?"

Erik nodded slowly and looked at her. "Yes Miss Fleck, very nice."

"Raven."

"What?"

"My name is Raven. My last name is Fleck. Please call me Raven. Well, actually..." she looked at the floor sadly. "My name is, was, Armandia. Armandia Caressa DuBois. I never told anyone, because my adoptive parents named me Raven Fleck at the age of ten. I never changed it back."

"Armandia..." He placed his hand on her cheek and drew it down her chin. "It's beautiful. French, I am French you know."

"So was my mother. She named me. Father hated it."

"I love it. Armandia. It's so gentle." He looked into her eyes. Her eyes were as black as her hair and feathers. But they were deep and meaningful. Full of emotion, emotion he knew she kept locked up. "Armandia, I know you aren't happy."

She looked at him and a tear graced her cheek. "No, I'm not. I'm ruined... My father first, my brothers second, my owner after that. They ruined me for life, I can remember little happiness other than in the top of trees by myself, or practicing stunts with Frieda. That is when we were let out of the cages that we couldn't completely stand up in."

He brushed the tear from her eye. "It's over... I'm here... Armandia. I'll protect you." Her eyes suddenly became dark.

"What about your Christine! You talk of nothing else, even in your sleep. I hear her name... and Meg Giry. The Oooh LaLa girl, she's quite a female huh? Much more than I'll ever be. Why don't you go with one of them!"

Erik looked at her sadly. "Christine lives in Paris, and is married. She never loved me, I simply scared her, and Meg. Hah! I will never like Meg, not romantically." She narrowed her eyes.

"I don't believe you!" she spat at him and left, her blazer still lying on the chair.

"Armandia! Wait!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arm around her back. He didn't flinch as he felt the feathers. Instead, he stroked them and then petted her hair. "I want you." She looked at him and turned away. Then escaped his grasp and left.


	8. My Angel Fallen from Heaven

Raven sat on the ground in a corner after the show, people huddling past her in order to see 'The Oooh LaLa Girl' _Maybe Erik wasn't lying...her never goes to see the show...Maybe, unlikely, but maybe, he does like me...in a sort of way._ She looked up and saw him standing there an outstreched arm.

"Too many people huh? I agree, let's go." He wrapped his arm around her and led her back to the room. "So, I have sent a letter to The De Chagney family asking them to come and that she sing a song in the new auditorium. What do you think?" He had told her everything, christine, the Opera, the Angel of Music. The murders, the beatings, even his childhood. But, other than that, he had confessed a love to her. Many times over, it wasn't that she didn't secretly like him, she was just scared to show it. And now that Christine was coming, he would fall back in love with her. So it didn't matter, not anymore. He broke her thoughts by speaking again.

"She has accepted my proposal to sing. Isn't that great!"

"Does she know it's you...Mr. Y.?" She sneered and he simple held her closer, placing his hand on her hip and guided her through the crowd to the stairs that lead to his abode.

"No. She doesn't and I do not wish her to."

"Until she gets here...then you will forget about me won't you! Won't you?"

He grabbed her shoulders and held her close to him looking down at her small frame. He moved his face nearer to her. "No...I'll never forget you." He looked like he was about to kiss her, but the young girl turned her head to the side. He chuckled. "Darn female." She looked back and saw him grinning at her.

"We need to talk about these shows."

He snapped out of his trance and looked at her. "Huh?"

"The wires scare me. Can't I just use my wings? You know...I've had accidents with wires before, but those were even thicker ropes, so these thin transparent ones scare me half to death..." She looked at him fearfully and he wrapped his arms around her and held her.

"Shhh... It's alright, they will not break. I have swung on them before. They are made of a much stronger material. I do not wish for you to show your wings in public again. Do you understand? They are hardy, but delicate, and if they are broken again...? It- it wouldn't be good." He removed her blazer and she extended her wings, as there were holes in the undershirt so as to be able to stretch them. They cramped like a leg or an arm folded or crossed for too long, and it did not feel good, so she would escape into a back room and stretch them out for short periods of time. He placed his hands on them and felt the bone. "Sturdy." he pet the feathers. "And very soft..." he put it up against the uncovered side of his face and smiled. "You are a special girl, you know that Angel?"

_Angel? He is calling a freak Angel?_ "No... but thank you."

"You doubt me calling you that don't you? Well don't, you are an Angel straight from Heaven. If there is one. Sometimes I seriously doubt it." He sighed and looked down.

"Me too... but then again, sometimes I think there is. I did when you found me."

"You- you did?" Raven nodded and took his hand for a moment then walked back up the stairs leaving him with his thoughts.

"My Angel."


	9. Ah Christine!

Raven watched from the side as Christine's voice rang throught the immense concert hall. Erik had paid little attention to her since Christine showed up, as she expected. But it hurt... And the boy! Their son. That hurt worse. Raven sighed and walked down the hall of dressing rooms. A star lay on the ground and the door was open. She looked down the hall and saw Meg, she had the boy. She was dragging him by the shirt coller. Raven gasped and ran into the room. The mirror was broken, the glass was scattered everywhere. There was drops of blood. _Meg's or Gustave's?_ Raven cursed aloud and ran backstage, where she found Erik questioning Madame Antoinette Giry, and the Madame back-firing angrily.

"Sir?" Everyone's heads whipped around. _"I just passed Meg's dressingroom, it was empty as a tomb. But her mirror was smashed, all in pieces on the floor." _Their eyes widened and Christine ran over to her and took her hands. _"And I saw her down the hall... pulling someone pale and small, and she looked all about. And then scurried out the door..."_ Christine asked her a few more simple questions and they ran. Raven stayed there and sighed.

"You did what you had to Fleck." Gangle sighed. She turned and looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Squelch and Gangle laughed.

"We know you love the Master, and we know he was fond of you. Christine ruined it, didn't she?" Fleck gasped and looked at them.

"How dare you suggest such a thing!" she cried crudely and then slipped to the floor. "Yes... yes she did. She destroyed everything! He promised me he wouldn't forget me, but... but he did. He had even tried to kiss me once."

"Did you not let him?" Squelch inquired.

"No... I wasn't sure if I had feelings for him, and if I did, whether or not they should've been barred."

"Do you regret now?" She looked up at them and a tear fell from her chin.

"Yes... No... Agh! Kind of!"

"He still loves you you know. He's just scared to show it." Fleck sniffled and looked up, then removed her blazer and stood up flapping her wings.

"Prove it." she growled. And out she went. Again.


	10. Fire of Hell

Erik looked up from his son and say a flame. "What the devil?" Another crept up, and another. Higher and higher. Phantasma was on fire. He took Gustave's hand. "Vicomte?" Raoul looked up. "Coney is on fire. Leave quickly if you do not wish to die." And off they ran towards his hiding place. Erik ran through the smoke bending down and onto the stairs. He locked the trap, and coughed. "Gustave? Are you alright?" The child looked up at his father and wiped another tear from his eye. "I know... I loved her too." He held out his arms and Gustave jumped into them. _Fleck... No. Armandia..._ He traveled down quicker and found her sprawled out on the ground the tips of her hair and feathers singed. He sat down Gustave. "No! Armandia!" He twisted her over and looked at the soot on her cheeks. "I will **not** lose you both!"

"Father? Who is that? Is she a bird?" Gustave was genuinely baffled and he sat down next to Erik.

"No, Gustave, she is a woman. A woman I care for very much. Like I cared for your mother."

"Why does she have wings then?" Erik looked at him, coughed, and then held her a little tighter.

"She is a freak, like me, only a lovely one. And yes, Gustave, she can fly." He shook Raven and kissed her cheek. "Come back..." he whispered and fell asleep there.

(Sorry so short, where I decided to end it)


	11. A New Role

"Erik..." Raven whispered and coughed smoke from her lungs. He heard this in his sleep and jumped and looked down.

"You're alive!" He gasped and grabed her holding her tighter. "I don't know what I wouldv'e done if you left me..."

"Why?" she grumbled "Where is your Chistine?"

"Dead and gone, I was afraid you were too... my Angel." he stroked her cheek and pulled her up to eye-level. he then moved closer to her. She closed her eyes and allowed her lips to gently brush his. Then he kissed her. Passionately, but gently.

"Father?" Erik looked up and held her close to him. "Why are you kissing her?" Erik looked at the fallen angel in his arms.

"Because, Gustave, I love her. I love her like I loved your mother... More, than I loved your mother." He nuzzled her. Gustave took a step closer and touched her wing.

"They work?" he asked. She simply nodded and Erik helped her stand up. She shook the ash off of herself and flapped them, rising into the air.

"They work." She tried to land, but Erik caught her instead. She looked at him unwarily.

"Let's go back up to hell and see what has happened to my world." he sighed and set her down. Raven followed up the stairs into confusion. There were people, and there were buildings, but the people were hurt, and the buildings destroyed.

"Oh no..." Erik whined and Raven walked up to him.

"Everything will be alright. You'll see." He turned to her with saddened eyes.

"Where do I go now?" he whispered. "This, this is where I belong. Amongst the strange. Where I do not feel misplaced..." She stroked his hair and kissed him. He looked at her and sighed and Gustave, longing to be held by his mother, grabbed Raven around the waist and cried into her bosom.

"You go wherever you want to go. And I will go with you." Gustave looked up at her.

"Father?" Erik nodded and watched the boy. "Do I have a new Mother as well as a Father?" Raven's eyes got big and she looked at Erik, searching for a dissaproving gesture.

"Is that what you wish Gustave?" Gustave turned his head up to Raven and touched her cheek.

"Yes." Raven was overjoyed! She'd always wanted a child, but didn't think she could ever be loved, but now, she had both. They'd adopted her into their family as wife and Mother, and she could not have been more ecstatic.

* * *

Raven fiddled with the ring on her finger and looked out the window to the beach and ther roller coaster, and ther ferris wheel. Coney had been rebuilt, not on such a grand scale, but still, it was there. Gustave loved the roller coaster and Fleck loved the Ferris Wheel. Erik, well he loved to go down to the boardwalk with them and take a stroll. Raven looked down and smiled to herself. _I can't believe you are there little one..._ She stroked her belly and Erik came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hello my angel." he smiled and nuzzled into her neck. "How do you feel?"

"Wonderful... you are holding me... Like it always should have been." Erik nodded and stayed there and looked upon the ocean aswell.


End file.
